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Country profile · Sub-Saharan Africa

Mortality in Nigeria, by the numbers

Nigeria sits in Sub-Saharan Africa. A newborn there can expect about 54.6 years of life, 212th of 212 countries with data. Below, every mortality measure the National Death Index tracks for Nigeria, each with its global rank and source year.

Life expectancy
54.6 yrs
212th of 212
Infant mortality
69.8 /1,000
1st highest of 192
Maternal mortality
993 /100k
1st highest of 191

16 measures · sources: World Bank Open Data and WHO Global Health Observatory (Global Health Estimates 2021) · latest available year per figure

How Nigeria ranks, measure by measure
MeasureValueWorld rankYear
Life expectancy at birth 54.6 yrs 212 of 212 2024
Age-standardized death rate 10.6 /1,000 54 of 182 2021
Crude death rate 11.6 /1,000 20 of 212 2024
Life expectancy at 60 18.6 yrs 80 of 182 2021
Male mortality penalty 14.0 /1,000 205 of 212 2024
Life-expectancy gap (F−M) 0.6 yrs 211 of 212 2024
Old-age sex ratio (65+) 90.4 men/100 women 180 of 212 2024
Infant mortality 69.8 /1,000 1 of 192 2024
Maternal mortality 993 /100k 1 of 191 2023
Premature NCD mortality 17.7 % 102 of 182 2021
Suicide rate 5.0 /100k 120 of 182 2021
Road-traffic deaths 20.7 /100k 64 of 187 2019
Recorded alcohol per adult 3.8 L 101 of 185 2020
Population aged 65+ 3.0 % 188 of 212 2024
Health spending per capita $67 162 of 191 2023
GDP per capita $1,084 191 of 212 2024

Measured against the rest of the world, Nigeria's sharpest departures from the middle of the pack are the 1st highest infant mortality in the world (69.8 /1,000) and the 1st highest maternal mortality in the world (993 /100k). Every figure above is the most recent the source reports for Nigeria; the year sits beside each one, and rankings cover only countries with data for that measure.